


Out Of The Dark

by bobbiejelly



Series: MerAdd My Heart <3 [13]
Category: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
Genre: Bisexual Meredith Grey, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Grief, Grieving, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, MerAdd, Sad Addison Montgomery, maddison - Freeform, meddison, prompt request
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23528218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobbiejelly/pseuds/bobbiejelly
Summary: Prompt: Can you write a story where Meredith comforts Addie after Bizzy slaps Addison in Private Practice because she didn't save Bizzy's girlfriend? I don't know if you've seen it, but it's in the later seasons of Private Practice. MerAdd. Meddison. Rated M.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Addison Montgomery
Series: MerAdd My Heart <3 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687834
Comments: 37
Kudos: 26





	1. That Fated Phone Call.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AddisonAddek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AddisonAddek/gifts), [EmyLilas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmyLilas/gifts), [LordofLezzies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordofLezzies/gifts), [bg3929](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bg3929/gifts), [addiesbaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/addiesbaby/gifts), [LarisUSB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarisUSB/gifts), [tornyourdress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornyourdress/gifts).
  * Inspired by [On the Edge](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24261094) by [LordofLezzies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordofLezzies/pseuds/LordofLezzies). 
  * Inspired by [Grey In LA](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/644317) by SilverStarsAndMoons. 



> Yesterday I received a lovely private message with a specific request for a story. So here's Chapter One just to tease as I figure out the rest. And thanks again for asking because I never would have come up with this one on my own. And to those others who may be wanting a story, I hope you won't ever be shy !

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My mother is a lesbian and her lover is dying” Addison blurts out the moment she picks up the call. “She’s dying and there's nothing I can do to stop it” Addison gasps now at her own words.
> 
> “Addison?” The whispering voice on the other end questions as if she’s surprised that this woman still had her number from all of those years ago. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where it all begins.

* * *

**Out of the Dark**

* * *

_Prompt: Can you write a story where Meredith comforts Addie after Bizzy slaps Addison in Private Practice because she didn't save Bizzy's girlfriend? I don't know if you've seen it, but it's in the later seasons of Private Practice. MerAdd. Meddison. Rated M._

* * *

**Chapter 1: That Fated Phone Call.**

* * *

_SLAP._ Addison heard the firm palm coming into contact with the right side of her cheek before she felt it and cried out “oh!” as she only starts to feel it at first.

But she felt it now, the cold sting of the blow radiating from a red mark radiating from the blood vessels beneath her skin. 

Her own right hand was now pressed to it and she’s turning slowly back to face her mother, Bizzy, now in shock. 

“You will save her life! Do you hear me, you will save her life” Bizzy Forbes commanded as her lover Susan Grant looked on in concerned awe.

And as Addison turns to look at her mother, Bizzy, her jaw slackens and her eyes open wide as she looks deep into those tear-filled eyes. 

And for once in their life, neither of them has any blatant clue of an idea of what they should say.

* * *

“My mother is a lesbian and her lover Susan Grant is dying” Addison blurts out the moment she picks up the call. “She’s _dying_ and there's nothing I can do to stop it” Addison gasps now at her own words.

“Addison?” The whispering voice on the other end questions as if she’s surprised that this woman still had her number from all of those years ago. 

“Oh, so sorry Meredith, I know we haven't talked a lot, you know not since the - Derek - You’re - The - Wedding - But - Anyways - Addison stutters as she tries to form a coherent sentence but unlike her, as it is, she hasn’t prepared a speech to tell this story so she’s grasping at nothing and plummeting in freefall with her failure at explanation. 

“Are you okay?’ Meredith asks in a sort of tender voice and Addison can hear shuffling in the background as Meredith must be moving around the house right now. 

And she hears a familiar grunt from Derek so she guesses that she’s woken up Meredith from having just fallen asleep and that she was lying in bed next to him but Derek is just too tired from operating all day that he doesn’t wake up long enough to ask or follow her. 

“What?” Addison asks because she isn’t so sure she heard that last part correctly because Meredith had been hushing herself so not to disturb Derek as she fled the room for the kitchen and Addison seems sort of shocked to think that Meredith Grey would be one to ask how she was feeling, given who they had been to each other, and all. 

“Are you okay?” Meredith asks in a normal volume now as she settles into her living room couch and she has poured herself a tall glass of something to drink as they talked. 

“Thank you” Addison breathes out as a sigh of relief. It’s a breath of fresh air, really that someone would be caring in the slightest about what was going on in her head right now. 

“That wasn’t an answer” Meredith pursues her and Addison knows that Meredith is right. 

“I’m not sure if I know an answer” Addison sighs as if she wanted to add “it’s complicated” at the end of that sentence, but it’s implied. 

“I think I know why you called me” Meredith starts, thinking it might be easier if she’s the one that starts up the talking. “My mother wasn’t easy to please either. Sure she might have won accolades and awards but being her daughter - well - I just never felt that I was good enough to please her, that’s all” Meredith explains thoughtfully. 

* * *

“Right, that’s why I called you” Addison confirms quickly. 

  
Truthfully she’s not even sure what motivated her to call Meredith at nearly one in the morning but she’s sure as hell grateful that Meredith even picked up when she saw the familiar number.

She wouldn’t have blamed her for letting it ring till the end or for hanging up on her right away.

At least that’s how Addison feels people are communicating with her these days, through hanging up the phone on her or slamming doors in her face. _Or by slapping her_. She sighs.

“Well, I’m glad that you called” Meredith answers honestly and if that doesn’t confuse Addison more she’s not at all sure whatever would. 

Why Meredith Grey would ever want to hear more from the likes of _her_ after she's cheated on her “McDreamy” and showed up in Seattle and started working at Seattle Grace and dragging Derek through a long divorce and sleeping with one of her friends and getting rejected by both him and Mark and then leaving to try to have a baby she couldn't have. 

Why after all of that would Meredith Grey ever want to hear from her ever again? She wasn’t exactly always nice to her even when she was an intern back then.

“Addison are you still there?” Meredith pulls her out of her thought spiral as Addison says to her “Yeah” in a faded gasp as she starts to whimper. 

And when Meredith says to her “It’s okay” again softly. She hangs up the phone on her because she’s going to start ugly crying now, and she’s not going to stop. And the last thing on earth Addison wants Meredith Grey to hear from her now is her ugly crying and pained sobs that her mother will be so ashamed that she’s shed outside of her room and on the phone with _another person_ , no less.

Meredith thinks that Addison’s call must have dropped out because she frowns when the sound just goes blank and she stares down at the screen where it says how long the call had just been.

And she sighs as she dials the familiar number all over again, and she sighs as she realizes that for no logically explainable reason whatsoever that she hardly had to look at her address book to know which of the numbers she should press on next.

  
  


* * *

*

*

*

*

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******* END OF CHAPTER 1**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is a work in progress but wanted to get something up as soon as I could !


	2. Chapter 2: Voices in the Dark of the Roadside.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh hey, Meredith” Addison tries to act casually as if she’d just dialed this number by accident, rather than the way it actually was. Which was that Addison had dialed this number no less than seven times before she finally had the courage and bravado to press “call”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here is that update. Working through the re-watch of Private Practice to research this and it's stretching my brain. You're welcome to check out my other recent PP story about Addison and Naomi, if you want something that's more fun.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Voices in the Dark of the Roadside.**

* * *

Meredith hits “answer” on her phone before she looks at the caller ID and she pulls over to the side of the road when she hears the start of Addison’s voice on the other side of the line.

She’s called her six times in the past few hours but gave up after she’d gotten no calls back in response. 

“Oh hey, Meredith” Addison tries to act casually as if she’d just dialed this number by accident, rather than the way it actually was. Which was that Addison had dialed this number no less than seven times before she finally had the courage and bravado to press “call”.

“Are you okay?” Meredith gets right to the point. 

  
“Ah-” Addison stammers because she’d been expecting some sort of small talk to occur before she’d been asked that so she hadn’t had the time to formulate a proper response.

“So okay we can drop the ‘is Addison okay’ question for now if you want” Meredith offers her and Addison takes this gratefully. 

“So tell me, are there any boys in your life Addison Montgomery” Meredith says to her in a sort of teasing tone. 

“Well there’s this one guy…” Addison trails off because to be honest, it’s not that exciting.

“Ohh, well please do go on” Meredith says in a gossipy way and Addison can’t help but feel a small pang of regret when she hears Meredith’s voice perk up at the mention of her shacking up with someone else. 

“Well this cute-ish cancer doc keeps asking me out to dinner but I keep turning him down” Addison exhales sharply. “He’s like just, okay” she tries to explain to Meredith.

“I see, so your cancer doc is cute-ish and he’s flirting but you’re not sure he’s smart as he thinks he is because he has no solutions for helping Susan and because if he did, then maybe he might have sort of a shot of at least you showing up to his dinner offer” Meredith guesses exactly.

“Right.” Addison concedes to her. “I didn’t expect you to guess that all on the first go” she sighs. 

  
“Well, I am, aren’t I?” Meredith asks her gently. “Well, you are,” Addison says with another sigh. I guess I better be getting back to see what he’s come up with” Addison can think of no more excuses to keep talking to Meredith now, no matter how much a part of her wants to.

“Do you want me to come over?” Meredith offers and Addison frowns at her seemingly hearing a tinge of hope lacing Meredith’s tone.

She decides she’s imagining it. The hope, that is. And that it’s her own mind construing Meredith’s offer to be something it’s not because some wretched part of her brain apparently wants to dredge up her painful past and thrust her all the way back in with some new obstacles to contend with.

“I said, do you want me to come over?” Meredith offers again because Addison has not said a thing and she wants to see if Addison is even still breathing after she couldn’t hear her even sighs over the phone anymore.

“I- I-” Addison tries terribly hard to say “I don’t want you to feel you have to just for me” to Meredith to her offer but she can’t get the words to form right and she thinks that she’s going to start crying again because when Meredith said that, she realized that out here that she’s all alone.

“I’ll be over tomorrow” Meredith answers for her. “It’s not just for you” Meredith covers quickly. “There’s a sort of surgical innovation conference happening this time of year in LA and I always wanted to go but I never got invited to one” she explains. “But there’s public lectures sometimes in the mornings so I could go check those out while I stay in LA for a few days” Meredith shrugs audibly.

She hadn’t said anything yet in response, but Addison was starting to panic a bit off Meredith’s comment because she had just said “a couple days” not “a few hours” and as far as she knew, Meredith had no family outside of Seattle. So where would she stay?

“I could stay at Sam and Naomi’s or I could stay at the hospital or I could book a hotel or I could-” Meredith takes a breath before saying what Addison thinks she is saying. 

“Come stay with me” Addison finally answers her. 

“My mother’s at a hotel so there’s space. And I need someone there in the nights anyhow for when I wake up with nightmares, I feel bad for Sam and Naomi they’ve gotten no sleep since she’s been sick” Addison says honestly and she has absolutely no idea on earth why she might be spilling her guts all of the sudden to Meredith Grey over the phone.

“Send me your address” is all Meredith says as Addison contemplates. “I’ll take the burden off of your best friends and neighbors” she offers and she has no idea how Meredith had figured that one out so fast but whatever. It was already settled then. 

Addison says “okay” to Grey before Meredith hangs up and Doctor Grey puts down her phone drives away again.

And Addison is suddenly relieved when she realizes that Meredith had been too preoccupied to ask her if she was doing okay again, which she wasn’t.

She wasn’t okay because Meredith Grey was going to come out and visit her. In her house. To sleep in one of her guest beds (shut up, of course, Addison has like three she’s rich as hell) and she would be there by tomorrow. 

And Addison Montgomery has no idea how to feel about it all, but she’s slightly ashamed at how soothed she is that she won’t be alone in the house anymore. And that maybe, just maybe, that Meredith Grey would hold on to her tight.

* * *

*

*

*

*

*

******* END OF CHAPTER 2**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading let me know if you want more.


	3. Chapter 3: Direct Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Addison Forbes Montgomery is currently shifting around nervously at the front of the airport terminal as she runs her thumb over the airport parking ticket she’s holding onto and examining to make sure it isn’t about to expire. 
> 
> "DAL Flight 104 from SEA to LAX has been delayed by thirty minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience this delay has caused. Have a good day and thank you for flying with Delta Airlines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the overwhelming support for this fanfiction ! It's really astounding and I never thought it was going to happen. So here's an early update inspired by the reviewers. This is going to be a lot of MerAdd with some PP plot and people. And thanks again to the person who gave me this unique prompt.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Direct Flight**

* * *

Addison Forbes Montgomery is currently shifting around nervously at the front of the airport terminal as she runs her thumb over the airport parking ticket she's holding onto and examining to make sure it isn't about to expire.

* * *

_DAL Flight 104 from SEA to LAX has been delayed by thirty minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience this delay has caused. Have a good day and thank you for flying with Delta Airlines._

* * *

The announcement rings thickly in Addison's ears as she glances down at her cell phone to verify that, indeed, Meredith Grey was supposed to be arriving on the DAL 104. Curses. And here Addison had been thinking she could make it in early for work.

Addison had not exactly promised the other woman that she'd be waiting to pick her up at the airport. She hadn't even said that she'd drive, she had given the blonde her home address in an email and so Meredith probably assumed she'd have to hail her own cab.

Like a normal fucking person. Who wasn't dropping her whole life at the drop of a hat to console the sad and scared woman that is Addison Forbes Montgomery who has previously been described as Satan by both the blonde in question as well as her current husband? Who is her own ex-husband. But we all knew that already, now don't we.

So Addison stops thinking about that part (that part being the Derek part) and focuses instead on emailing her practice's group chat to inform them that she was not going to be on time like she had planned, after all.

* * *

Text Message, Tuesday 7:43 AM to

Oceanside Wellness Group Chat

ADDISON

[Sorry crew, going to be in closer to ten this morning. Will catch up on this morning's meeting stuff later.]

NAOMI

[What! We had breakfast plans and I thought you were going to update me on that cute cancer doc.]

VIOLET

[Ooh, a cute cancer doc? Now you have to keep talking!]

PETE

[Any progress on Susan Grant Research? Anyways let me know maybe I can collaborate. We'll talk about it at work though.]

SAM

[See you soon, Addison.]

SHELDON

[Likewise]

CHARLOTTE

[We'll reschedule your Ten O'Clock appointment if you're not back yet.]

ADDISON

[Thanks all, and girls, we will chat about this _later._ ]

NAOMI

[You sure bet we will.]

AMELIA

[You owe us some DETAILS.]

COOPER

[Hey, how come the boys always get left out of the gossip!]

* * *

Addison smiles as she closes the group text messages on her phone. Boy, is she glad at times like these that she's everybody's boss. Even if her co-workers could be more than especially nosy sometimes. She really does hope that her team likes Meredith Grey (the ones who haven't already met her, that is) and that, more importantly to her perhaps for no particular reason, that she likes them.

She's shifting from foot to foot, nervous all over again after the initial panic about being late for work had worn away. She glances at her watch again. Still five minutes from when Meredith's plane is expected to be landing. She takes a deep breath and groans inwardly. This was never this much of an issue when she used to pick up Derek but it seemed to be one now.

But then again, having Derek acting as any sort of baseline was setting a low, low bar.

* * *

"ADDISON YOU'RE HERE!"

Addison's thoughts are interrupted by the sudden presence of the blonde woman who was currently walking towards her with a chipper voice before running right up to her and throwing her arms around her neck and hugging her.

The contact feels warm and nice wrapped around her shoulders and Addison indulges herself into it and she wraps her own arms around Meredith's waist as she nuzzles her head slightly on top of Meredith's for a moment before taking her arms away and ending the hug.

"It's so good to see you, Meredith," Addison says before she thinks better of it. And there's a certain weight to Addison's words as Meredith looks into Addison's eyes with a questioning expression before Addison's eyes stop swimming with - something she can't read - and they both snap back to the present.

"It's good to see you too, Addison," Meredith says to Addison softly. And she really, really means it.

"I'm so sorry about this Meredith but we're going to have to go right to work because I'm already a bit late getting into the office" Addison apologizes to her as she pulls out of the parking lot of the airport and feeds her ticket into the machine as they leave it.

"It's no problem, I mean thanks a lot for picking me up, I never expected you to be here," Meredith says to her gratefully.

* * *

She seems like she's older, even since Addison has last seen her on her half sort of recent trip back to Seattle. She studies her now, through the corner of her eye as she drives down the familiar roads. When Addison moved to LA from Seattle Meredith was only an intern. And the few visits she's had back haven't exactly been filled with tons of time for socialization.

"So tell me about your new Private Practice," Meredith asks her. "Oh, sure" Addison seems reassured by the easy topic to talk about. And so she starts to explain about the Oceanside Wellness Group, about St. Ambrose Hospital, and about the cast and characters of her workplace who all hung out in the communal kitchen on the fifth floor.

"Wow, seems like a great time" Meredith laughs as she tells funny stories about the mischief her intern friends and herself have gotten into since she's been gone, such as how Cristina had gotten married to Owen Hunt, how they’d saved a person who had a fish hook inside of them and how close Callie and Arizona are getting.

And they fall into this easy pattern of chatting and laughter and Addison sighs contentedly at how this is probably the most normal she's felt in about a thousand years.

* * *

  
*

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*

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******* END OF CHAPTER 3**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's a bit of fluff before the plot gets completely started, because they're just naive still about everything and the angst is yet to come. Hope you enjoyed, leave a review and please correct me if I got the timeline wrong for the PP mergers of Pacific Welcare and who exactly works there at what time.


	4. When Worlds Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hello, I'm Doctor Meredith Grey and I'm an old friend of Addison's"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit rushed but I wanted to get something out for those lovely followers !

* * *

**Chapter 4: When Worlds Collide**

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Hello, my name is Dr. Meredith Grey and I’m an old friend of Addison's, Meredith introduces herself to the first woman she sees coming off of the elevator.

“Violet Turner, Psychiatrist” she introduces herself. “And this is my best friend Cooper Friedman” she motions.

“I’m a Pediatrician” he shrugs. “Neat” Meredith smiles at him sweetly. 

“You look familiar,” Meredith says to another woman who comes around the corner. 

“Naomi Bennett”, Addison’s best friend, introduces herself. “I’m a fertility specialist here at the practice and I used to be married to-

“Sam This is Dr. Meredith Grey”, Naomi motions for him to come shake Meredith’s hand. 

“Ah- I know you, you were the intern who was there when Archer had his brain worms removed. 

“I remember _you_ both singing a song with Archer and Mark about Derek getting married to Addison” Meredith laughs. 

Both their eyes open wide as they grin, embarrassed at the memory. “As I said, I thought it was sweet” she laughs and it makes everyone feel better.

* * *

  
  
  


“Hello, my name is Sheldon Wallace and I am the other Psychiatrist” Sheldon holds out his hand just as Pete Wilder walks in. 

“And I’m Pete nice to meet you” he bumps into Sheldon slightly on purpose when he does this. 

“Are any of you people going to practice medicine today?” A female voice cries out over everyone. 

“You must be Doctor Charlotte King” Meredith extends her hand to the woman. “Addison told me about how you’re chief of staff at St. Ambrose. Very impressive” she says with a smile.

Normally it takes a whole lot to win over Charlotte King, but this woman was welcomed in with open arms. 

There was only one person Meredith had expected to meet but had not yet, and that was the “half-cute-cancer-doc-person” that Addison had been talking about. 

She thinks that she’ll meet him later. So she decides to walk around the office to see what she can figure out. 

* * *

  
  
  


“MEREDITH GREY!” A familiar voice calls out to her as Meredith spins around in shock.

“AMELIA SHEPHERD!?” Meredith exclaims. “How did I not know you moved to LA?!”

“Welllllllll I kinda never told my brother that I was coming to see Addison and then I showed up and asked for a job where she worked without telling her and now here we are. So it’s really great to see you, Meredith!” Amelia exclaims.

“It’s good to see you too,'' Meredith smiles at her. Everyone seems really great. So, I- Have you seen Addison?” Meredith finally spits out. 

“The last office to the left” Amelia smiles at her. “I take it she’s expecting you. I’m glad you came” she smiles. “Oh, and don’t tell my brother anything silly you see me doing, ok?” she teases. 

“Sure won’t I promise” Meredith smiles as she walks down the corridor.

* * *

  
  
  
  


_Truth be told, Meredith isn’t really speaking to her fiance Derek, either._

_They had had their post-it-note wedding a while back, but they hadn’t gotten legally married yet._

_And instead of being at home with Derek like a good little housewife, Meredith is escaping to LA to be here._

_Staying with her fiance/husband’s ex-wife._

_Because Addison is sad because her mother is a lesbian and her mother’s lover is dying._

_And Addison is sort of hitting on but turning down a mediocre cancer doc._

_And Addison called her. So Meredith is here now. Alone without her… Derek._

* * *

  
  


“ADDISON” Meredith exclaims to her louder than even at the airport. 

“Your friends are FANTASTIC” she gushes, eager to please.

“I’m so glad you like them. I’m so glad you came” Addison says.

“So what’s the verdict about your mom?” Meredith asks her, concerned. 

“Well we don’t know yet, but kind-of-cute-cancer-doc might pull us through,” Addison says. 

“Well, I sure hope he does. And hey, if there’s more than there’s more am I right?” Meredith says. 

“You know, even if he IS right, with my mother and Susan being here and you being in LA, I don’t think I’m going to have dinner with him after all” Addison says.

“Even if he cures your mother’s girlfriend’s cancer?” Meredith asks her in a tease.

“Miracle workers are overrated” Addison smiles at the blonde. 

* * *

And Meredith smiles right back at her. 

And they’re happy. At this moment. 

The world is falling apart and they are who they are to each other.

But they are here for each other now. 

And so they let themselves just be. 

Addison allows Meredith to stay in her office as she consults the oncologist. 

But she’s not very flirty with him at all the way she was, she doesn’t miss it. 

  
  


* * *

_And Meredith could never explain it to Derek or to Addison or anyone else._

_Why she ran away._

_  
__Why she took this trip to LA._

_But for some reason, there’s nowhere she’d rather be right now than here._

_With Addison._

_Who would have thought, huh?_

  
  
  


* * *

_***** _

_***** _

_***** _

_***** _

_***** _

******* END OF CHAPTER 4**

* * *

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you want more of?  
> Addison and Meredith?  
> Bizzy and Susan's cancer line?  
> Interacting with the PP Characters?  
> There's a lot of moving parts here so let me know what interests you.


	5. Breakfast & The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast & The Beach - What could be better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has been requested to be updated. 
> 
> Keeping this chapter light, and more MerAdd as requested!

  
  


* * *

**Chapter 5: Breakfast & The Beach**

* * *

Text Message, 7:21 AM, Location: Seattle to LA

_Derek Cristopher Shepherd to Meredith Grey_

  
  


DEREK

[Hey where r u.]

MEREDITH

[LA.]

DEREK

[why?]

MEREDITH

[An old friend had an emergency.]

[Talk later, gtg.]

DEREK

[miss u.]

[love you.]

* * *

_‘Ugh,’_ Meredith thinks to herself. She really _should_ be texting back an “I love you” to Derek.

_(I mean she WAS supposed to be married to him. I mean she signed a post-it-note with him.)_

_(Maybe marriage wasn’t all that it was supposed to be cracked up to be…)_

“MEREDITH! DO YOU WANT PANCAKES???” Addison called from the kitchen.

Meredith grins and releases the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. 

“TWO PLEASE!” Meredith yells back at Addison, who is melting a pat of butter in the pan before mixing the batter together.

Meredith closes her phone without answering Derek back.

She gets dressed as quickly as she can before scampering into the kitchen.

“STRAWBERRIES!” Meredith squeals like a child when she sees them, saying to an insistent Addison that

“if you brought them out to eat why shouldn’t I eat them already’-

While Addison was trying to set them on the table and Meredith was grabbing for them already.

“So would you like to come with me to the beach this afternoon?” Addison asks her.

“You’re here on sick leave or vacation leave or _whatever_ from Seattle,"

"I’m off for the day and I’ve got my pager in case anyone has news about my mother’s lover,” she says. 

“Are we not _already_ on the beach?” Meredith asks Addison with a questioning look.

“Yeah but we can go to a different beach. One with more people on it. _Cute people_ ” Addison insists on this one. 

_(Idly, Meredith wonders to herself whether Addison was simply being inclusive when she had said ‘cute PEOPLE’ and not ‘cute boys.’ )_

_(Meredith wonders whether she was referring to the fact she had suspected Meredith swings both ways since she ran into her ex-girlfriend Sadie years ago?)_

_(Or was it ADDISON who was herself also bisexual? Bicurious? Maybe a little even?)_

“Ooh, cute people,” Meredith snaps herself out of her thinking.

“You DO know that I am MARRIED, right Addison?” Meredith teases just a teeny bit. 

“Yes, I do know that you are married, Meredith. On a post-it no less. But there’s nothing wrong with looking as long as you don’t touch” Addison teases her back. 

_(‘She seems… flirtatious with me...?’ Meredith thinks to herself again. Of course, she could just be super straight and she’s just a flirty person.)_

_(Addison IS a flirty person. Always WAS a flirty person. Hell I know that I’ve seen her around all her friends, arms around shoulders…)_

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you go home and sleep with anyone behind Derek’s back?” Addison says to her with a genuine grin.

_(‘How about letting me sleep with YOU, huh’ Meredith’s subconscious is not doing a very good job at reigning itself in these days, it seems.)_

_(‘Hey, it’s not like I wasn’t gonna go home with you anyways…’)_

“Are you going to finish your pancakes?” Addison questions Meredith now with a sort of raised eyebrow. 

“You were just saying I had to stop myself from stealing the strawberries before they were laid out on the table for me” Meredith recovers herself quickly.

“Well the strawberries are on the table now, so put them into your mouth and let's get moving” Addison rushes her as she finishes her own set of pancakes.

_(And Meredith only stops herself for a little from her eating, to listen to the appreciative moans coming out of Addison’s.)_

_(As she licks the syrup off of her lips. And she wonders, despite herself, if the sounds coming out of Addison’s mouth then will ever be for her, for a whole other reason.)_

“AMEEEEEEEEEELIA” Addison shouts at their other housemate who she always lets sleep in later on her days off. 

“LATERRRRRRRRRR” Amelia groans at Addison, wanting to sleep in a little longer.

“There won’t be any strawberries left for you!” Meredith calls out to her in confession.

“That’s ok, more maple syrup for me,” Amelia says with a tired voice.

“Are you off to the beach now because I could really use some more beauty sleep” Amelia whines out from her room.

* * *

“COOOOOOOOOOLD” Meredith yelps as she dives right into the water once they both get to the beach.

“WATCH OUUUUUUUUUUUT” Addison cries out to Meredith in warning before she tackles her into the waves.

“Whoa” Meredith almost loses her balances and falls just as Addison catches her. 

“So much for taking me out, huh” Meredith grins at Addison. “I thought for sure you were trying out for the wrestling championships.”

Addison sees Meredith raise her eyebrows up at her in a challenge.

“Oh you are going DOWN,” Addison says to Meredith as she moves over to push her under again.

“Not if I can help it!” says Meredith, who moves out of the way so that Addison will fall into the negative space between them.

“Gahhh” Addison squeals as she plunges face-first in the sea spray. 

“See I told you” Meredith grins at her until Addison is facing her. “I win” Meredith moves on closer to Addison.

“You win” Addison concedes, twirling a hair from the base of Meredith’s neck, tucking it in around Meredith’s ear.

"What do I win,” Meredith asks with a smirk on her face.

“Well, what do you want?” Addison says with a chuckle.

“What do you have to offer me?” Meredith says, her voice dropping an octave lower. 

_(And there is a bit of a moment, where Addison sees something darken in Meredith’s eyes._

_(She’s seen it before but directed at Derek, back when he was her McDreamy and she was his Sun.)_

_(But Addison until now has never seen this darkening-eye look directed at HER.)_

_(And most terrifyingly of all, Addison is not even sure that she minds it.)_

_(More dangerous still, she’s starting to think that she CRAVES it-)_

_(And that she might even do some unspeakable things if it meant that she got to see that scathing look burn into her eyes again…)_

But before either of them had the chance to move closer and to dive in headfirst to a some-

_(Adulterous behavior behind the back of Derek Cristopher Shepherd,)_

_(Which if we’re counting, would be not the first but the SECOND time that Addison has found herself in such a similar of a compromising position-)_

  
  


****** RING RING RING RING RING *******

  
  


Addison’s pager went off and both of them could hear it all the way from the water.

“I’m still waiting for my prize!” Meredith calls out, running after Addison who’s sprinting towards her pager at a breaking page.

“It’s about Susan Grant,” Addison says breathlessly to the blonde.

“Is it good news or bad?” Meredith says tenderly with her tone.

“It doesn’t say anything else here at all,” Addison says near bewildered.

“We should get to the hospital,” Meredith says, all business now.

“Yeah,” Addison says, slow to move out of her paralysis. 

“Here, I’ll help you pack up this stuff,” Meredith says, throwing their towels and water bottles and hats into their bags.

“Thanks,” Addison says to her, looking more scared than she’s probably ever been around Meredith.

“It’s going to be okay,” Meredith says, putting a hand onto Addison’s shoulders.

“Thank-you,” Addison says to her, tearing up yet again. Meredith nods at her before picking up both bags into her arms. 

“Thank you for staying,” Addison says as Meredith leads her away from the beach.

“No problem,” Meredith says to her genuinely. “I’m here for you,” she says, nudging Addison by the hip. 

“Can you drive?” Addison says, her hands shaking a little.

“Sure,” Meredith says, holding her hand out for Addison’s keys.

Meredith runs her thumb over the embossed “A” for “Addison” stamped on the front of them as she loads their bags into the car and they drive off into the distance. 

"We didn't even get to see any cute people," Addison says with a sulk.

"But I did," Meredith says with a bit of a glint in her eye.

"Seriously??" Addison exclaims to her incredulously.

"It's ok, Addie. You must have blinked for a second or something" Meredith glances over her.

"Maybe next time," Addison says in a huff. "I'm still hopeful I'll find someone beautiful here."

And Meredith turns her face forward and facing the road so that Addison can't see her smiling so wide.

* * *

  
  


*

*

*

*

*

***** **END OF CHAPTER FIVE**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we go, 
> 
> Writing this at the same time as "Falling apart, Barely breathing"
> 
> Has me always trying to make sure I'm not repeating ideas. 
> 
> Yes, I will be continuing this one probably just not as a daily thing.
> 
> But feel free to nag and tell me what you want to see next!
> 
> (Ps. Update for "Falling Apart, Barely Breathing" coming soon I hope so!
> 
> -See you all lovelies in the comments <3


	6. The Cure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Addison is driven to the hospital by Meredith, where they find out the news surrounding the next potential steps in cancer management for Susan Grant, Addison's mother's (Bizzy Forbes') lover.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Cure**

* * *

" _Show me, show me, show me, how to do that trick… The one that makes me scream she said..._ _The one that makes me laugh, she said… Threw her arms around my neck... Show me how to do it... I'll promise you... I'll promise that I'll run away with you... I'll run away with you…"_

Meredith hums idly onto the radio as Addison looks blankly out the window, leaning her head against the door.

She really does like _The Cure,_ and "Just Like Heaven" is probably one of her favorite songs of all time.

So Meredith sings along idly, glancing up at Addison every once in a while to see if she is doing okay.

If things were different, Addison might have been more in a mood to stare at Meredith's beautiful features as she drove them down the open road.

But she wasn't, so she doesn't.

Instead, Addison closes her eyes then opens them up sharply every time she starts to doze off and wake up in a nightmare.

"It's okay," Meredith says to her gently.

"You're okay," Meredith says to her gently, all the way there.

* * *

The Chief of Staff of St. Ambrose, Dr. Charlotte King, wastes no time to rush them right into Susan Grant's room, before rushing off to respond to a sexology emergency page.

Bizzy Forbes, Addison's mother is tending to Susan, now, as she puts a warm cloth on her head as Susan is sleeping.

"Hey," Addison says to her, breaking the silence as neither Bizzy nor Susan Grant even notices they're here.

"What is your news?" Bizzy demands of Addison before Addison even walks in the door.

It makes Meredith want to reach out and hold Addison's hand.

But she doesn't.

Instead, Meredith walks behind Addison, as she steps into the room right in front of her.

"I just got a page, that's all I know," Addison shrugs at Bizzy, defeated.

"How can you not know _anything_?" Bizzy then admonishes her.

"We know as much as you do," Meredith explains to Bizzy now, speaking up from behind Addison.

"Who the hell are YOU? Are you Addison's' new 'dirty mistress'?" Bizzy yelps at the blonde who jumps back in a shock.

_(And the irony of Meredith being called a 'dirty mistress' again by McDreamy's ex-wife 's MOTHER is not lost at all, on either of them…)_

"Umm," Meredith tries to figure out how to answer that one.

"She's an old friend of mine," Addison finally says to them all, simply.

"Oh, wonderful Addison. It's great to see you have such a good friend to accompany you!" Bizzy says.

Meredith nods up at Addison's explanation, turning back to Bizzy Forbes apologetically, and says "sorry for startling you, I forgot to tell Addison to let you know I was coming. I mean, I just drove us, that's all"

* * *

_(Meredith doesn't elaborate about how she's actually staying at Addison's. Or that they were just at the beach together. And that she was just flirting with Addison even though she's married. Or how hot Addison looked in her bikini. Or how she wrestled her into the ocean…)_

_(Or that she's been staying at Addison's since she flew out of Seattle without telling her husband. Or that she's been sort of not really close with Addison in a long time before Addison called her that night…)_

_(Secretly, Meredith is glad that Addison didn't say something like "she's actually my ex-husband's ex-dirty mistress, then she became his actual girlfriend after I left Derek. And now she's my ex-husband's wife, though they got married on a blue post-it-note so I mean say about that what you will…)_

_(Secretly, Meredith is MORE glad that Addison didn't say 'no' to her mother's rude question.)_

_(MEREDITH GREY! You were just fantasizing about being your husband's ex-wife's dirty mistress. YOU NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER. NOW. RIGHT NOW, MEREDITH.)_

"You look like the kind of girl my daughter would go for, that's all" Bizzy deadpans.

Addison's jaw drops right down to the floor (as does Meredith's) as Addison squeaks out "but I'm straight…"

"But is SHE?" Bizzy asks her.

"Umm?" Addison tries not to say "no" FOR Meredith because that would be rather presumptuous, she thought then.

But Addison doesn't want to explain "she's sort of seeing my ex right now. And he's definitely a BOY. But because of the night we met we never really talked about our other exes, ever…"

So instead Addison says nothing to the fact.

And Meredith doesn't know what to say or to answer, because she doesn't want to admit that she's had many girlfriends before and she missed being with women.

_(And/or that she's starting to have somewhat of a crush on Bizzy Forbes's daughter right now…)_

So Meredith just sort of says nothing, just stands there wide-eyed, until eventually another page interrupts them.

* * *

"It's the oncologist, he's on his way" Addison checks at her pager.

Meredith reaches down for hers as a knee-jerk reaction, but then looks slightly embarrassed as Addison smirks at her, saying "didn't know you were so eager to be paged here."

"I just forgot, that's all. It's like classical conditioning I'm used to the sound" Meredith responds simply.

"Oh, where are you from?" Susan Grant asks her, she's awake now, she woke up from the pager noise.

"Umm, Boston, or Hanover… Or Seattle, I guess" Meredith doesn't know what she means by that.

"Oh, Seattle, Addison used to live in Seattle. Did you ever meet her ex-husband, Derek Cristopher Shepherd?" Bizzy asks of Meredith, rather... _Kindly?_

"We've uh. We've met." Meredith deadpans slightly, as Addison tries to contain her amusement.

"He's a nice man. I think. Maybe? Though he never was right for Addison…" Bizzy says a bit sharply.

* * *

"HELLO, LADIES, EVERYONE," Eric Rodriguez the oncologist storms into the room, interrupting their conversation.

_(Thankfully, for both Addison and Meredith.)_

"So the good news is, I'd like to propose a combination of a surgical and chemotherapeutics approach for Susan Grant's cancer. After that I would like to register her for a clinical trial with drug therapy and radiation" the oncologist announces to them.

"YOU CAN OPERATE!" Bizzy exclaims to him gratefully.

"It's not necessarily a CURE, though, it's a start at least… It has risks as all treatments do, but I believe the benefits outweigh the risks…" Eric trails off a bit.

"WHOA WAIT NOW!" Addison says in a huff.

"How did this change all what you suggested to us just a few days ago?" Addison asks him.

"Well, I've been catching up on my research and I think if you could use the Da Vinci machine and I implant hot chemotherapy at the same time then perhaps we can start there" Eric mimics his first answer.

"And this occurred to you… How?" Addison asks him in confusion.

"Well I read everything and everything about YOU, Doctor Montgomery and I think this is well within you exceptional capacity" Eric _grins_ at Addison, now.

Eric is trying to be charming and it's making Addison a little uncomfortable.

And it's making Meredith even more than uncomfortable.

_(Actually, it's making Meredith extremely JEALOUS and upset at him, if she's being honest…)_

And Addison doesn't notice anything in Meredith's reaction because Addison is too busy eyeing Eric with a bit of a wide-eyed look.

And Meredith only notices that Addison didn't ever swoon from Eric's grinning and _whatever_. And that makes her feel so much better, somehow.

And Susan Grant is so focused on the cancer diagnosis she didn't notice anything else then, at all.

* * *

But the look of, dare she say, menace, that Meredith is giving Eric now is not lost at all on Bizzy Forbes.

Addison's mother can read Meredith through like glass.

_(Well, she sure has a temper… Bizzy thinks to herself. But then, so does Addison so at least it would balance out that way… Bizzy thinks rather idly.)_

"What do YOU think, Susan?" Addison asks her compassionately.

And Susan looks towards Bizzy, then at Addison, back to Bizzy, then to Meredith, then to Eric, then back to Bizzy again.

And she sees all the longing in her lover Bizzy Forbes' eyes.

And Susan Grant says she'll try it if Addison agrees to operate.

And Addison does, even though she can't stand to look at Eric Rodriguez right now.

"Well, then. It looks like there is lots of good news to go around, then" Bizzy says now more enthusiastically than Addison can remember her sounding about _anything_ , ever before.

"What's the other good news?" Addison asks as if she's missed something.

And now Susan Grant looks at Bizzy watching both Addison and Meredith.

And she sort-of figures it all out because she really DOES know Bizzy.

So she saves them both from the embarrassment, and Susan says "well there were two things in that plan so it's more than one piece of good news all at once," giving Bizzy a look, now.

And Eric nods at them and excuses himself, wanting to ask Addison to talk about the surgery, but sensing he's not welcome in the room right now, anymore.

"Congratulations!" Meredith says to them all genuinely, once they are all alone again.

And Addison's breath catches slightly, as she sees how happy Meredith is for them all.

And she sees just how much Meredith truly _cares_ , that someone she cares about is going to be okay.

* * *

*

*

*

*

*

***** **END OF CHAPTER SIX**

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Thank you for your support of this crossover!_

_Let me know what you think of this ridiculous AU!_

_Yes, it has been a while._

_But I have not given up!_

_Thanks,_

_bobbiejelly_


	7. Highly Recomended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Addison Forbes Montgomery is a bit overwhelmed now with all the emotions going on, so she sends Meredith Grey out to get takeout, and asks her to swing by to drop some off for Amelia Shepherd, while she is at it, while she stays to talk with Susan Grant, her old nanny, and the love of her nanny's life, her mother, Bizzy Forbes.

* * *

** Out of The Dark **

* * *

_Prompt: Can you write a story where Meredith comforts Addie after Bizzy slaps Addison in Private Practice because she didn't save Bizzy's girlfriend? I don't know if you've seen it, but it's in the later seasons of Private Practice. MerAdd. Meddison. Rated M._

* * *

**Chapter 7: Highly Recommended**

* * *

_Addison Forbes Montgomery is a bit overwhelmed now with all the emotions going on, so she sends Meredith Grey out to get takeout, and asks her to swing by to drop some off for Amelia Shepherd, while she is at it, while she stays to talk with Susan Grant, her old nanny, and the love of her nanny's life, her mother, Bizzy Forbes._

Meredith complies immediately, nodding, and saying perfunctory goodbyes to Susan Grant, Addison's mother's lover, and Bizzy Forbes, Addison's mother.

Meredith doesn't talk to the oncologist Eric Rodriguez, and Addison does not fail to notice this as she walks out.

* * *

Having no instructions as to what to eat for dinner, Meredith goes to the house first to ask Amelia if she has any suggestions.

Meredith considers texting Derek Shepherd, her sort-of-husband what he thinks Addison will like (he was married to her for over a decade, she supposes…).

But Meredith thinks better of this, knowing that Derek will know something is up if she asks him about his ex-wife while she is in LA.

So she just knocks on the beach house door, hoping Amelia is actually there because she doesn't have a key.

"Hey, Meredith," Amelia greets her, still yawning as if she'd just gotten out of bed, which she reveals that she had.

"Do you know what Addison would like for dinner?" Meredith blurts out before she adds "it's for you, of course, also, the dinner, I mean…"

Amelia doesn't seem to be bothered by Meredith's awkward phrasing though, she just motions Meredith inside Addison's house and helps her set her things on the table.

"Let's see… Addie likes pizza, spaghetti, pad thai…" Amelia lists off.

* * *

Meredith is a little bit jealous that Amelia gets to call her 'Addie' like Derek also used to. She's also a bit annoyed that Amelia knows so much about her brother's ex-wife, even though they had grown up together.

"Do you think that she likes Mexican?" Meredith suggests for no good reason.

"Only if you get churros. She loves chocolate churros," Amelia smiles and adds, "I like them too, and I think you will. Let me find it on a meal delivery service…"

While Amelia looks up the online menu, Meredith tries not to picture Addison's mouth covered in cinnamon and pastry, but she fails a bit at this task.

_('Wow. You have a thing for your husband's ex-wife. For real. A real, real thing, there, Mer. Nice.' Meredith thinks to herself a bit frustratedly.)_

"Do you want beef or chicken?" Amelia asks Meredith, and Meredith snaps out of her own head and asks if they have black bean vegetables, which they do and Amelia orders two corn enchiladas for her.

"Sounds good, just let me know when they get here," Amelia sighs as she looks like she's going to go back to bed again, but she lands on the couch instead.

Amelia motions for Meredith to join her, and Meredith does sit down.

Meredith reaches for the TV remote, but Amelia stops her and starts to chat with Meredith.

* * *

"What's the deal with you and Addison, anyway?" Amelia finally asks Meredith the question she's been wondering since Meredith arrived in LA all of a sudden.

"What?!" Meredith freaks out a little and tries to feign a little innocence.

"Why do you care so much about her, after all these years?" Amelia clarifies her question.

Meredith is surprised that she didn't say 'why do you care- seeing as she basically fucked up your life and almost wrecked your chances of ever being with my brother, again,' but she doesn't actually say that part.

And Meredith figures it's all implied anyway, so she just says "uhh-" as she tries to think of something sensible.

_('I have this really stupid hopeless crush on your sister-in-law or ex-sister-in-law or whatever, I like the girl that you call 'Addie' and I wanna call her 'Addie' and suck pancakes off her tongue' Meredith doesn't say to Amelia Shepherd even though she thinks it…)_

"Uh-" Meredith says again, as she really scrambles for her words.

She's sort-of saved by the bell though, literally, because the doorbell rings and Meredith hops up to get it.

Meredith pays the delivery person and adds on a nice tip.

And then she sets the food on the counter and gets some juice and soda out to delay having to talk to Amelia about this right away.

* * *

Amelia presses on though, and she joins you at the counter as she helps unpack the boxes and she asks Meredith again "What's the deal with you and Addison, anyway and why do you care so much about her, after all these years?"

Meredith tells her "I don't know," because she doesn't, and Amelia nods and seems to understand this.

And then Amelia starts to talk and it is really surprising, for both of them, even as Amelia says this she surprises even herself...

"Look, I get it. Addie's amazing. I always loved her as a big sister as a kid. She was the best friend I never had, and a better big sibling than my actual sisters and my brother…" Amelia starts and she might have noticed Meredith's slight flinch when she called her 'Addie' again.

"She is amazing…" Meredith can's help but agree with Amelia.

"Look, I'm going to tell you something you can never, ever tell anyone. And especially never tell my brother, or Addison, or Mark Sloan, or your sister Lexie Grey, or anybody else, you got that?" Amelia asks Meredith very seriously.

"Sure, of course," Meredith says, now a bit intrigued.

* * *

“When I was younger, before the time that Derek caught them, I walked in on Addison naked with Mark Sloan," Amelia finally admits to Meredith.

Meredith nods because this seems familiar as if Derek might have told her this before.

"And at the time," Amelia keeps telling her story. "Addison asked me not to say anything to my own brother. And I never hesitated to say yes right away," Amelia keeps offering.

Meredith is more and more interested to find out where this is going.

"I did it for Addison, not for Mark, because she was so good to me. She took me to get my ears pierced when my mother, Carolyn Shepherd, wouldn't," Amelia keeps talking and talking.

"Addison helped me get on birth control, when I told her first before anyone else I wanted to have a boyfriend," Amelia continues.

Meredith nods, glad that Addison had been so helpful to Amelia back then.

"And the thing I never, ever told anyone else before, but the thing I'm going to tell you now…" Amelia trails off as if she is still unsure of spilling all her secrets.

* * *

Meredith promises her again that she won't tell. So Amelia goes on.

"When I saw them naked there together, even though you know later than me and Mark 'did it'," Amelia begins. "When I saw them in bed having sex, I was only staring at Addison. She was my favorite person in the whole world for a while, I idolized her and I already had a puppy crush…"

_(Meredith's eyes widen at Amelia's admission and she tried to push back her jealousy that Amelia had seen Addison with a sex flush, and she hadn't…)_

"And when I saw her laid out like that, lying on Mark's chest, they were actively going at it before they saw me walking by. And I just saw Addison moaning, her hair flying, and her kissing lips. And I sort of, I guess a screwed up part of me felt that I _wanted_ her, or at least sexually I reacted- like I wanted her 'like that'. It was some weird biological autonomic reaction to how hot she was just naked. Even though I knew it was so fucked-up…" Amelia finally concludes.

"You don't think that being gay is fucked-up, do you?!" Meredith exclaims with a shout.

"Oh, no, not at all. I'm bisexual, even though I don't usually tell people that and I've never dated many women at all. It's fucked up because at the time she was a whole lot older than me. Age is different when we're older, but I was only just becoming legal at the time, and she'd been married to my brother for a decade, she was already a full-fledged doctor, and so was Derek at that point" Amelia explains to Meredith.

"Did you feel that way with you and Mark?" Meredith blurts out, then regrets it.

"He did, but he did it anyway, because I asked him to, when I came to Seattle," Amelia explains.

* * *

"So, this thing with you and Addison, have you two, ever…" Meredith trails off.

"Oh, no, we never have. I've never told her. I never will," Amelia finally says.

"Are you still interested in her?" Meredith asks Amelia bluntly because they certainly do live together.

"No, because it would be weirdly semi-incestuous, and I think of her as a sister and my best friend, and she's still older and she's one of the best things in my life and I don't want to fuck that up" Amelia explains. "And that's not my thing," she adds pointedly.

"Doing Mark was bad enough since he was basically my brother figure growing up. But with Addison it was different. She lived in my house when I was small. Mark Sloan slept over a lot, but he didn't actually live there, there's a difference," says Amelia.

"Right," says Meredith, trying to wrap her head around it.

"If I had dated Addison Montgomery," Amelia continues the conversation, "we would go to family dinners at Carolyn Shepherd with you and I and Addison and Derek there. And Derek would be Addison's ex-wife who I would be hypothetically seeing…" Amelia keeps mentioning.

"And you, Meredith Grey, would be his sort-of-married girlfriend, who slept with Derek before he got divorced, (yes, I know all about that post-it-note, by the way) and what the hell would Kathleen, Liz and Nancy say!" Amelia finally shouts.

"Wow, that would be really awkward," Meredith finally figures all this out.

"So, no. I'm not still lusting over Addison, or interested in her romantically. We're just used to living together now, and she still treats me like the sister she never had, even though she dumped my brother," Amelia says bluntly.

"I think he sort of dumped her, for me," Meredith says sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right. Derek was a total dick about that, stringing the two of you along. I'm sorry, he really was," Amelia rolls her eyes at a non-present in LA, Derek.

"Yeah, he really was," Meredith agrees with Amelia, and softens when she realizes that Amelia never slept with Addison.

"Okay, so basically that's the end of storytime," Amelia finally offers. "Point being, a long time ago, when I discovered her affair, Addison Montgomery was sort of a bisexual sexual awakening for me, and I hope to die very happy at one-hundred without her ever knowing that."

"Well, you can count on me for never telling her or Derek or Mark or Lexie or anyone at all. I have no polite way to bring it up," Meredith laughs along with Amelia as she promises she'll never tell a soul.

* * *

"So, onto you, now. You're not getting away from it all this time, you didn't come here all the way from Seattle at the drop of a hat for no reason, to talk to your current boyfriend's ex-wife, who you have not talked to in ages!" Amelia finally smirks at Meredith, who blushes at her staring.

"You're not going to tell Derek, or Mark, or Addison, are you, what I'm about to say?" Meredith finally makes Amelia promise, because she thinks she's going to share. And idly, she wonders how close Amelia and Addison must be if she knew that she and Addison had not really stayed in touch in awhile.

"You know you have a bigger secret over me, and besides, no, I wouldn't ask if I didn't really want to know," says Amelia Shepherd to Meredith.

"You really are a kind sister in law to me," Meredith hums at Amelia, who smiles.

"Look, it just helps to get stuff off your chest," Amelia finally offers.

"Okay, so I still do love Derek Shepherd, and I married him on a post-it, but George was dying at the time, and then he did die, and all this wild stuff kept happening, and he proposed to me in an elevator days after Addison left her visit in Seattle, and I never stopped thinking about Addie…"

Meredith finally allows herself to call Addison that, and it felt really good falling from her lips.

"I think I'm falling for her, Amelia. I think I'm falling out of love with Derek, and I'm falling for his ex-wife," Meredith finally shrieks out, and she starts to cry a bit.

"I get it. You know I get it. Addison is easy to love. As a sister, I love her too. I will always love her… And you're starting to be my sister, too…" Amelia comforts Meredith as she cries.

"If I were to go out with Addison, would I be doubly your sister-in-law?" Meredith finally asks Amelia.

"Well, hopefully not, because I'd like to assume you'd leave Derek before seeing Addison, but you'd still be my sister in law both ways," Amelia offers, and Meredith groans at her obvious answer.

"I'm glad I'll always have you as my sister in law, Derek doesn't appreciate you, but I do, as your new sister you never knew you had until later," Meredith finally offers.

And it's the closest thing Meredith comes to, that evening, to admitting to Amelia how she might someday act on her 'more than friendship' feelings toward Addison.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Susan Grant's hospital room, after Meredith had just left to get takeout._

"What the hell even was that, Bizzy!" Addison yells at her mother, Bizzy Forbes.

"What the hell was what?" Bizzy yells back, trying to play dumb.

"Why the hell did you suggest that Meredith Grey might be my 'dirty mistress!' Addison finally yells to Bizzy.

Addison looks to Susan Grant for some sort of explanation, but Susan Grant, her former nanny and now (then?) her mother's lesbian lover, just simply shrugs at her.

"Well, was I that wrong?" Bizzy persists, and Addison wants to yell some more.

"She is not my 'dirty mistress' mom. Stop calling her that. You do not get to call that girl a whore!" Addison finds herself defending Meredith, and hates how her mom implied she was participating in _(another)_ affair.

 _('Though, to her credit, Meredith hadn't really known about her existence the first time when she first slept with Derek Shepherd…' Addison thinks to herself, right now.)_.

"I'm so sorry, is she your girlfriend then? Your wife, perhaps? She seems lovely all the same. I know I will be a little bit devastated if I find out you two eloped without me, though I do understand wanting to keep the love for oneself and one's intimate partner…" Bizzy says all this as she squeezes Susan Grant's hand.

"No, Meredith is just a friend, like I said, just an old friend from Seattle," Addison sighs, not wanting to explain the whole 'Meredith Grey is married to my ex-Derek, thing' to her mom.

"Do you want her to be more than that?" Bizzy keeps pushing Addison onwards.

"Why do you ask that I just said I'm straight…" Addison trails off as she actually considers this for the first time in a while, because she'd never had a reason to act on any feelings for any woman before, but she always had found girls to be attractive, at least a little bit, before…

"Well, I thought that for years, until I met my Susan Grant," Bizzy offers, as she caresses Susan Grant, her lover's hands.

"Well, I'm glad that you found me, Bizzy," Susan Grant says to Bizzy, and Addison does smile a bit that they are happy, even if she's mildly jealous of their mushiness, and also feels betrayed she found out so late in life about their truth.

* * *

"You know, even if it isn't Meredith you're interested in, hypothetically, but you are still in the closet, I will tell you to reassure you, I feel like I regretted not coming out earlier," Susan Grant pipes in for Addison.

"Really?" Addison exclaims, before considering not asking that question.

"Yes, I always felt this way for women, I was just scared to admit it, then I did sometime after college," Susan Grant acknowledges.

"Was it hard for you to come out?" Addison blurts out, not even knowing she wanted to know the answer to that question before now.

"Well," Bizzy cuts in before Susan answers her first, "the hardest part for me would probably have been coming out to my mother. But she was dead by then. But you don't have to worry about that with me, if you ever do decide to come out," Bizzy promises Addison directly.

"Oh. Well, I'm straight…" Addison says with only the slightest hesitation.

"Well, to answer your question, Addison," Susan Grant continues her reply.

"It was a bit challenging to come out, emotionally, for me. But I eventually did and it was better once it was over, and I felt I could breathe easy again," Susan Grant finally says.

"Can we talk about something else now?" Addison pleads them both, now.

"Sure," Susan Grant offers before Bizzy can press Addison further and Addison mouthes 'thank you' to her.

"Why don't you talk to us about how you first met Meredith, your old friend from Seattle," Susan Grant finally asks her, just in a thoughtful way.

"Sure," Addison says, a bit excited, though she doesn't fully know why, and she's going to have to be careful how she says this.

* * *

"So, Meredith and I, we met in the hospital lobby of Seattle Grace Hospital, and I introduced myself, and then she did," Addison says to both of them very gently.

"And then you became friends?" Bizzy asks her, wanting to get to the point.

"I guess, sort of, we did. We understood her. I saw her as a younger version of myself. I empathize. She was a better person than me though, she still is, I think," Addison articulates.

"How did you spend time together?" Susan Grant finally asks.

"Well, she was an intern on my rotation. The first day I worked at that hospital, she was helping me on a TTTS case," Addison explains, "and she came _highly recommended_ as a resident, so I requested her, and she didn't disappoint at all," Addison finishes this anecdote.

"So you were friends as co-workers, then?" Bizzy tries to summarize.

"Yes, we were, we didn't get along at first…" Addison explains.

_(Addison tries not to dwell on the affairs that pulled them apart initially.)_

"But we eventually became closer. As it turns out, we have a lot of similar life experiences…" Addison trails off again.

* * *

_('Like we both fucked Derek Christopher Shepherd, that's actually how we bonded in the first place. And accepted his proposals at one time. We both sort-of married him in one way or another. And we both had affairs…')_

_('And we both have overbearing mommies and adulterously whorey daddies and actually both our mommies are also adulterously slutty, now, come to think of it.')_

_('And we both have siblings or at least one sibling in my case, and that sort-of drives us nuts sometimes…' Addison does not say any or all of this to Bizzy and Susan, now.)_

"As in?" Susan Grant asks her to elaborate, so Addison goes on about the medicine.

"Well, we both talked a lot about surgeries. She is a fast learner. She likes to solve difficult cases and she cares a lot about her patients. She works really hard in her residency as I did, so I tried to be good for her and her friends, as a mentor," Addison reflects back.

"And did you share many personal moments with Meredith?" Bizzy finally asks her still being a tad nosy.

"Well, we did once share a dog, together, his name was Doc, though we called him McDog because that's a thing they do over there… Anyway we shared a doc. Also with another mutual… Um… Friend of ours. We shared a dog. He was a nice dog. I got poison oak over that dog. And I loved him. And I signed the papers to put him down. And then I left because I couldn't bear to watch him finally go down…" Addison thinks about Doc and tears up a bit.

"I'm sorry for your dog," Susan Grant finally says to her.

"I'm sorry, too," Bizzy says to Addison.

* * *

_(And Addison is endlessly relieved no one asked her who the mutual 'friend' was, or if they ever had a 'threesome'. Because she had been joking about it when she said that once to Meredith and Derek by the elevator.)_

_(But the thought was making her feel a bit hot now, as her mind drifts to what sex might be like with Meredith, and not because she felt any nostalgia about sleeping sexually with Derek…)_

_('Wow. You're picturing getting laid with her. With Meredith Grey. You're picturing what might have been had the two of them actually come to your hotel room and banged you against the wall there. Jesus. And you're half-sure you'd have enjoyed Meredith's attention more than Derek's, even though you were still married at the time and you and Meredith just met…')_

Addison zones out for a moment, but lucky for her the two women think it was just her thinking about her dog and that's why she's red in the face with what- outdated grief?

Either way, Bizzy and Susan do not ask her more about Doc, because they do not want to upset her.

And Addison reminds herself to maybe reminisce with Meredith about Doc sometime later that evening.

* * *

Speaking of later that evening, Addison checks the time and notices it's getting later…

"I think I have to go for dinner, soon," Addison chokes out to Susan and Bizzy.

"Sure, just send in that oncologist when you go, would you?" Bizzy asks her daughter.

And Addison nods and is very glad neither woman asked if she was ever interested in Eric Rodriguez, and she notes to herself that she is becoming even more uninterested in him, now.

"If you do become a lesbian…" Bizzy begins as Addison starts to pack up her things.

"But-" Addison starts to protest before Bizzy cuts her off.

"If you do become a lesbian, I promise I won't, or I won't ever think it's because I am a lesbian. If you do become a lesbian, it's because you were a lesbian all on your own, and I am perfectly fine with it, and if your father is not, then I'll address 'The Captain' Montgomery about that issue, myself," Bizzy promises.

And this is the first time Bizzy Forbes ever offered to stand up to her father for her, and Addison is touched.

"From what I hear about your brother, Archer Montgomery, I don't think he'll mind at all, hypothetically, I mean…" Susan Grant also offers.

"Oh, God. Archer. He would have a field day talking to me about girl-on-girl. Hypothetically speaking, uh, I mean…" Addison stutters out.

"Well, yes, probably," Bizzy laughs and suggests they call Addison's brother Archer some time together.

"Sure, mom," Addison says as she leaves, sending Eric Rodriguez in at their request. It's the first time she called her mom in ages, and it seems to warm Bizzy Forbes' heart.

* * *

"Hey there, you look nice today," Eric tries to flirt with Addison as he enters the room, while they are both still half in, half out of the hallway.

What might have made her melt a bit mere weeks ago is making Addison cringe now.

"Thanks," Addison says this very flatly, hoping he will get the point.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me, sometime, tonight or otherwise?" Eric tries again with her.

"No," Addison says flatly, turning down even the hypotheticals.

"Never? Not even for a drink or coffee?" Doctor Rodriguez tries again.

"No." Addison just rolls her eyes.

"Wow, are you playing hard to get with me, Montgomery?" Eric tries another time.

"NO!" Addison just yells at him, and she almost hits him over the head with Susan Grant's chart before thinking better of it.

"Do you like it when I call you 'Montgomery', I bet you like it," Eric tries to say seductively.

"CAN YOU TAKE THE HINT I SAID NO!" Addison finally screams at him, not caring if her mother and Susan Grant can hear her yelling.

"Wow, wow, feisty Doctor. You know, some say that I 'play doctor' well, if you know what I'm saying…" Eric still persists.

"God, go away now. Just talk to them about the surgery. I cannot stand being here, you hitting on me without stopping makes me practically run off to be a lesbian," Addison rolls her eyes in a huff.

* * *

Addison grabs her bag and walks fully out the door now, and she doesn't look back at all at him.

She's gone by the time Eric Rodriguez eventually asks her mother and his patient "is she actually going to run off to be a lesbian, do you think, now?"

So she's long gone by the time Bizzy Forbes says to him "well, either way, you don't deserve my daughter anyway. And I will love her all the same."

And she's very long gone by the time Susan Grant says to him "if she does or if she doesn't isn't our story to tell either way. Our love story is between Bizzy and me, and what Addison does with her life and with whom, is not for us to share for her with strangers who don't take no for an answer,".

And with that, Eric Rodriguez hangs his head and apologizes to Susan Grant and Addison's mother, Bizzy Forbes.

And he gets on with the medicine, as Susan Grant explains how she once always took care of Addison and Archer, and how she loves her like a daughter, and if he hurts her, even while she's riddled with cancer in a bed, that she'll find a way to hurt him back tenfold.

And Bizzy Fobes squeezes her lover's hand and smiles widely.

* * *

Addison is breathless as she runs to go on home. She realizes that Meredith must have taken her car earlier, to pick up dinner, so she picks out her phone and calls her and Amelia to let them know she's ready to go home.

Addison sits in the hospital lobby as she reflects on all that happened. She thinks about how much she hated Eric Rodriguez's flirtations. She thinks about the little seed of doubt she kept having while she said over and over that she's straight.

And she thinks about how much she enjoyed talking about Meredith Grey, and how happy she is while the girl is living at her house. She doesn't think of Derek until she does remember him, and she realizes that the jealousy is on the other side of the equation, this time.

She wonders what that makes her, and she's terrified to figure out. Addison knows that Meredith is still post-it married to her ex-husband and that they'll probably want to sign the papers soon, to be actually, really married. They probably want to have kids together someday soon…

And Addison can't help but feel, as she sits and waits for Amelia and Meredith, that she really does miss her step-sister-though-not, Amelia when she spends the day without her. And that Amelia, now, is basically an equal, even though sometimes she still feels like an older sister.

But she really, really cannot wait to see Meredith Grey the most, even more than dinner while she's hungry from all this the beach, too. She can't wait to see Meredith's smile, and her jokes, and her relating to her… _('Am I a lesbian? Am I becoming Gay' Addison really wonders…)_

* * *

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***** **END OF CHAPTER SEVEN**

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_Author's Note:_

Yeah, I'm back. I got inspired by writing crossover aspects in other stories.

If you want, feel free to check out [**Soothe**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24039004/chapters/57840982) and [**Second Person (The Diary of Addison Montgomery)**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24276160/chapters/58510657) and [**Falling Apart, Barely Breathing**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23434480/chapters/56169448), that’s the stuff I’m most excited about writing right now!

Also, the churros are an allusion to LordOfLezzies’s brilliant new work. You’re welcome. Continuity counts in this tight-knit fandom!

Hope you like this update, fans of this story, I wrote it all for you!!!

Have a good one, and I hope you’ll cheer me on with your favorite parts of this Chapter, and yes, I do plan to have more MerAdd interaction if I do decide to continue this eventually…

Maybe? Let me know what you think of this, and what you’d like to happen next.

Thanks,

_bobbiejelly_

Dedications, written for the first day of publication of [**Out Of The Dark**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23528218/chapters/56429596) \- Chapter 7, May 22, 2020:

Ao3: addiesbaby, EmyLilas, oliviajames, bg3929, TheNetflixGal, for leaving such lovely comments. MedusasWrath and Quietly_Cursed for the bookmarks. 6 Subscriptions. 15 Kudos. 445 Hits.

Fanfiction: artiethecat for the original prompt and the review. Adrienna, MysticSong1978 for the reviews so far. Also, kaipulani, artiethecat, arranmore13, rosegoldfocus, milosgurl, MysticSong1978, for the favorites. And king22, kaipulani, brooklyn99addict, artiethecat, arranmore13, NathalieRae, rosegoldfocus, milosgurl, MysticSong1978, for the Follows. And 1316 total views! 

Wattpad: outlawqueenpercabeth for commenting, so far. 158 Reads. 2 Comments. 7 Votes.

And of course, to everyone else who I do not know by username (yet, I hope!), you matter to me all the same. I do reply to every comment that I can to (sometimes it doesn't let you, on FF if you are anonymous...). And I wish everyone a happy evening, as you carry on your reading journey. Also, I do love if you ever want to share with my your favorite MerAdd stories, and I won't consider it too self-promotional if you ask me to read your Addison Montgomery/Meredith Grey work!

-From your Author.

* * *

***** THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE, LEAVE A REVIEW IF YOU WANT TO ENCOURAGE ME TO UPDATE, EVER! *****

* * *

See you all in the comments now!

Much love from yours, truly,

[ **_bobbiejelly_ ** ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobbiejelly/pseuds/bobbiejelly)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this unusual story, folks. Let me know what you think and have a good one! Cheers !


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